ASUS is apparently gearing up to release a new Chromebook that will pack a Rockchip processor and arrive as the company's most affordable Chrome OS laptop yet.
Aside from the high-end Google Pixel, Chromebooks are generally quite affordable. Various companies have launched several models of Chrome OS laptops so far and a new wave of Chromebooks may hit the market soon.
According to a new leak, ASUS may be planning to release a new Chromebook soon as well, and the laptop may cheaper than all of its predecessors.
"ASUS is gearing up to launch the 'most affordable Chromebook to date,' according to a listing featured in an American educational reseller catalog," OMG Chrome reports.
The publication posted an image of the purported ASUS Chromebook from the latest Troxell catalog, i.e. the 2015 brochure for K-12 education products.
According to that listing, the upcoming Chrome OS laptop from ASUS will come as the ASUS C201 Chromebook and pack an RK3288 ARM processor made by Rockchip. The laptop will feature an 11-6-inch display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, 2GB or 4GB of DDR3, 16GB of eMMC solid state storage, and a VGA webcam. The laptop will reportedly boast a 10-hour battery life, the listing further notes.
While the C201 would not be the first Chromebook to pack an ARM-based CPU instead of an x86 chip from Intel, it would nonetheless be one of the first models to have Rockchip's quad-core ARM Cortex-A17 processor. In terms of performance, this chip comes close to the Intel Atom Z3735F.
The retail listing in this catalog makes no mention of how much the ASUS C201 Chromebook will cost when it hits the market, but it's expected to come with competitive pricing.
Considering that the two Chromebooks ASUS launched last summer cost $249 and the listing claims that the upcoming C201 will be the most affordable one to date, the new Chrome OS laptop could come with a sub-$200 price tag.
Until official confirmation from the company, however, it all remains in the rumor state. As always, it's highly recommended to take all leaks, rumors and reports with a hefty grain of salt until a formal announcement. We'll keep you up to date as soon as more information becomes available, so stay tuned.
